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.ss‘ Page 3e yi I 5 SAIL. O CoVtlr� President Kanuha noted a document had been distributed relating to the lifeguard liability issue. (See, attached document referencing Sections 662-1 and 662-16 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes.) Treasurer Anderson said he and staff met with Bob Toyofuku recently. According to Mr. Toyofuku, when a County lifeguard is performing any service related to their duty as a lifeguard on a State beach, that lifeguard is determined to be a State employee, so would be covered by the State in terms of any legal liability. Council Chair White asked whether clarification had been received as to whether the portion of a county park below the State high water mark would be considered a designated State beach park. Treasurer Anderson said no, that was not discussed. Council Chair White said there is only one State beach park in each County, so this doesn't really solve the issue. Treasurer Anderson said if the Executive Committee would like, he could invite Mr. Toyofuku to an HSAC meeting. The Executive Committee discussed the number of County beach parks they have. President Kanuha said it's hard to have one person derail the efforts of the councils and the mayors. Vice President Kawakami said the last two times we were able to extend the sunset date, he had introduced the legislation because on Kauai, they have Kee Beach. Kauai is always taking the lead in trying to repeal the sunset date. At the time, Mr. Toyofuku brought out the argument that no other public safety officer has these types of protections, and cited this section of the HRS. For us, you are asking our county lifeguards to protect a State beach park that's one of the most dangerous and most popular State beach parks and all we are asking for is some protection for our lifeguards who are putting themselves at risk. He said at the last moments of this session, they tried to change the Attorney General "may defend" to "shall defend," but it still didn't rise to the level that we could accept it. The Senate President has publicly said the Senate would introduce a bill and pass it over to the House to repeal the sunset. So, from the Senate side we have a commitment to it going back to the way it originally was. President Kanuha said that will be up for discussion on the 2018 legislative package. Secretary Crivello said she would like to have us push for the repeal of the sunset provision. Councilmember Hokama said maybe the key thing for Mr. Toyofuku to remember is the last component of the statute, which says under an agreement between the State and the County. In our County, only the Council is authorized to allow the Mayor to execute an intergovernmental agreement. Council Chair White said the other point is that the lifeguards, unlike other personnel, are doing rescues in State jurisdiction, not County jurisdiction. Other emergency personnel, except maybe Fire if they go for an ocean rescue, are doing rescues on land, within the County's jurisdiction. President Kanuha asked whether the Executive Committee should invite Mr. Toyofuku to a meeting. Treasurer Anderson said he will make the request.